1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to clustered storage systems which include a plurality of storage nodes. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for optimizing backup tasks to efficiently backup data from the storage nodes to a plurality of backup storage devices coupled to the storage nodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Clustered storage systems include a plurality of storage nodes (e.g., specialized computers designed to provide file storage services) that work together as one storage system. A clustered storage system may provide more space for files than individual file servers, and may implement a distributed file system with a single name space. This may allow a storage volume to be striped across multiple storage nodes and may make management easier because only one file system is being managed, not a separate file system for each storage node. Clustered storage systems may also increase robustness by providing failover services. For example, if one storage node in the cluster fails then the storage volumes hosted by that node may be automatically failed over to other storage nodes in the cluster.
It is important to backup the data of a clustered storage system to protect against hardware failure, accidental deletion, or data corruption. The clustered storage system may include one or more separate backup storage devices onto which the data from the storage nodes can be backed up. In order to backup the clustered storage system, it is necessary to know various aspects of the cluster's configuration, such as the cluster topology (e.g., which storage nodes and backup storage devices are present in the cluster, and how they are interconnected), as well as other information, such as which storage volumes are implemented in the cluster and which storage node hosts each volume. In addition, the backup software must select which backup storage device each storage volume should be backed up to, determine the order in which to backup the storage volumes, determine the number of backup tasks to be executed simultaneously, etc. These decisions can affect the efficiency of the backup operations and the performance of the clustered storage system.